Fitness campaigns to motivate our butts!

New Year's Resolutions are great to have. It's the start of the new year and people have resolutions to give them something to look forward to, especially fitness goals.

2011 is no different, well maybe more companies are trying to motivate our butts to get in shape and stay that way. Individuals that spent the last few months on the couch suddenly take an interest in joining a gym and making exercise part of their daily routine. However, that rarely last.

But in an age of social and digital media, will that change? Here are some companies and brands pushing us harder:

Gyms - Fitness centers like Crunch and David Barton have specialized classes to help motivate people to stay longer in the gym. Crunch has stripping classes and hip hop dance lessons that help trick the mind into thinking you're not working out. Plus, they promote those specialty classess in just about all their marketing materials. I must say that David Barton's advertising is another factor that play into fitness motivation. Any New Yorker can walk down the street and see these half naked gym bodies that make you believe you'll look like that too if you work out at DB. To learn more about Crunch's classes or see David Barton's sexy advertisements, visit www.crunch.com or www.davidbarton.com.

iPhone apps -- We must be lazy if we need our phones to motivate us. Companies like Pump One have worked to allegedly bring you the best portable personal trainers for your handheld devices. They claim that their newest digital trainer product line, iPump, is our best ever. This series will draw from over 3,000 exercise images and videos -the world's largest collection- across all areas of training; strength, cardio, flexibility, sports, yoga, pilates and a lot more. If you're interested, the PumpOne brand is here: https://www.pumpone.com/ipump.html

Personal Trainers - Nothing beats motivation than good ol' fashioned personal trainers. Classes are okay, advertising might get me in the gym, and iPhone apps won't yell at me if I'm doing something wrong. Before, trainers relied on word-of-mouth to increase business, Jen Cassetty, a fitness expert and trainer in NYC's Crunch Fitness, said.

Trainers would hand out business cards, but now several are relying on social media like twitter and Facebook to increase business. Jen, who also holds NSCA CSCS and ACSM HFS certifications, has developed her own iPhone fitness app that gives her clients 24/7 access to her for tips, videos and nutrition advice. And additionally, Jen is available for training sessions for clients local to NYC at Crunch. To learn more about her, check her out at www.jencassetty.com or download her app at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jen-cassetty-personal-trainer/id369891654?mt=8